Daily Bible Reading Sunday 1st December 2024
Psalm 144
My Rock and My Fortress
Of David.
144:1 Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
who trains my hands for war,
and my fingers for battle;
2 he is my steadfast love and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield and he in whom I take refuge,
who subdues peoples1 under me.
3 O LORD, what is man that you regard him,
or the son of man that you think of him?
4 Man is like a breath;
his days are like a passing shadow.
5 Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down!
Touch the mountains so that they smoke!
6 Flash forth the lightning and scatter them;
send out your arrows and rout them!
7 Stretch out your hand from on high;
rescue me and deliver me from the many waters,
from the hand of foreigners,
8 whose mouths speak lies
and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
9 I will sing a new song to you, O God;
upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,
10 who gives victory to kings,
who rescues David his servant from the cruel sword.
11 Rescue me and deliver me
from the hand of foreigners,
whose mouths speak lies
and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
12 May our sons in their youth
be like plants full grown,
our daughters like corner pillars
cut for the structure of a palace;
13 may our granaries be full,
providing all kinds of produce;
may our sheep bring forth thousands
and ten thousands in our fields;
14 may our cattle be heavy with young,
suffering no mishap or failure in bearing;2
may there be no cry of distress in our streets!
15 Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall!
Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD!Footnotes
[1] 144:2
Many Hebrew manuscripts, Dead Sea Scroll, Jerome, Syriac, Aquila; most Hebrew manuscripts subdues my people
[2] 144:14Hebrew with no breaking in or going out (ESV)
Teaching by Rev. William Moody
This is a Psalm about warfare and victory. The Israelites had conquered the Promised Land but were still surrounded by many enemies who were wanting to destroy. Warfare was a necessary way of life for their survival. David knew that in the battle, the Lord was his only hope.
David acknowledges how it is the Lord who trained him for battle (v1). Even before he had gone to face Goliath, the Lord had trained him for battle while looking after the sheep (1 Samuel 17 v34-37).
It is important for us to be aware that we are engaged in spiritual warfare and to be equipped to use the weapons the Lord has given us (see Ephesians 6 v10-20).
The words that David uses to describe the Lord speaks of the great security that the Lord brings (v1-2). The Lord is David’s rock, steadfast love, fortress, stronghold, deliverer and shield.
David’s great confidence in the Lord comes from how he viewed the Lord so much higher than human beings (v3-8).